LEGALIZATION OF POT HAS LED TO INCREASE IN DEADLY CAR CRASHES

American CARNAGE: 46,000 road deaths in 2022, a 22% rise on pre-pandemic levels, as evidence mounts that HALF of crashes are caused by drivers being stoned or drunk

More than 100 people die every day on America's increasingly dangerous roads. More accidents have been linked to the legalization of recreational cannabis     

 

By James Reinl

 

Daily Mail

March 20, 2023

 

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 46,270 people died last year, a slight dip from 46,980 in 2020, but higher than before Covid-19

 

More than 46,000 people were killed on US roads last year, a 22 percent rise on pre-pandemic levels, according to road safety experts who link the rise to more motorists mixing drugs and booze.

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 46,270 people died last year, a slight dip from 46,980 in 2020, but higher than before Covid-19, which emptied the roads but led to more speeding and risk-taking.

Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO, said the carnage amounted to a 'regional jet carrying 100 people crash, killing everyone on board every day' and urged drivers to belt up and reduce speeds.

The figures come after another weekend of carnage on America's roads, including an alleged drunk driver crashing his Nissan Armada in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday while his eight-month-old daughter was in the backseat.   

Martin blamed America's increasingly dangerous roads on 'stress, social isolation and substance misuse' brought about by the pandemic that continues even as the outbreak wanes.

 

A government study late last year found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams

 

She cited a government study showing that nearly 55 percent of crash victims tested positive for alcohol, cannabis, or opioids.

'We bring those impairments with us when we get behind the wheel,' Martin told the BBC.

The large study by US highway safety regulators late last year found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams.

THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, was the most prevalent, followed by alcohol, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study showed.

Researchers said the results can't be used to gauge drug use on the roads nationwide, but that the high number of drivers, passengers, and other road users with drugs in their systems was concerning.

While many opioids remain illegal, ever more US states have legalized pot for adult recreational use, leading to more people getting behind the wheel when stoned and an uptick in accidents, injuries and deaths.

Eight states and Washington DC saw significant reductions in road traffic deaths last year, with Oklahoma, Idaho, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Montana, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Arizona seeing significant declines.

Still, that was offset by markedly higher death rates from smash-ups in Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, Connecticut, Nebraska, Washington, and Indiana.

The NSC's estimates come weeks before the officials figures are released by the NHTSA, but they use government data sources and are seen as reliable.

Road deaths began to rise two years ago when roads were largely empty due to stay-at-home orders in many states at the height of the pandemic.

With less traffic, speeds increased, as did reckless and impaired driving, leading to a record spike in deaths last year, authorities have said.

Many people weren't wearing seat belts, the government says.

Nearly 43,000 people were killed on US roads in 2021, the highest number in 16 years as Americans returned to the roads.

The 10.5 percent jump over 2020 numbers was the largest percentage increase since NHTSA began collecting the data in 1975.

In an effort to reduce the deaths, the federal government is sending $5 billion in aid to cities and localities to slow vehicles, carve out bike paths and nudge commuters to public transit.  

 

A billboard warning against driving while under the influence of cannabis in Topeka, Kansas, where pot has not yet been legalized